Senior cyber security analyst vs security administrator

The differences between senior cyber security analysts and security administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior cyber security analyst, becoming a security administrator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior cyber security analyst has an average salary of $91,144, which is higher than the $79,564 average annual salary of a security administrator.

The top three skills for a senior cyber security analyst include cyber security, incident response and NIST. The most important skills for a security administrator are customer service, troubleshoot, and security procedures.

Senior cyber security analyst vs security administrator overview

	Senior Cyber Security Analyst	Security Administrator
Yearly salary	$91,144	$79,564
Hourly rate	$43.82	$38.25
Growth rate	32%	5%
Number of jobs	64,649	99,222
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	42	43
Years of experience	6	2

What does a senior cyber security analyst do?

A senior cybersecurity analyst provides assistance in designing and implementing IT security systems in organizations or companies. Senior cybersecurity analysts protect the computer networks of organizations from any cyber-attack. They respond and analyze different cyber incidents as necessary. They offer actionable investigative leads to investigators to prevent terrorist or criminal acts in the future. Also, they establish and update procedures and documentation for various duties in ISO and ITIL formats.

What does a security administrator do?

A security administrator is in charge of establishing and enforcing security measures over a company's information systems and networks. Their duties typically revolve around installing and maintaining security networks, analyzing existing systems to identify areas needing improvement, conducting regular maintenance checks and upgrades to optimize services and functions, and monitoring overall systems for any suspicious activities or breaches. Furthermore, as a security administrator, it is essential to develop information technology solutions in adherence to the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.

Senior cyber security analyst vs security administrator salary

Senior cyber security analysts and security administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Cyber Security Analyst	Security Administrator
Average salary	$91,144	$79,564
Salary range	Between $69,000 And $119,000	Between $54,000 And $115,000
Highest paying City	San Mateo, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Nike	Gap Inc.
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Government

Differences between senior cyber security analyst and security administrator education

There are a few differences between a senior cyber security analyst and a security administrator in terms of educational background:

	Senior Cyber Security Analyst	Security Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Computer Information Systems	Business
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	California State University - Bakersfield

Senior cyber security analyst vs security administrator demographics

Here are the differences between senior cyber security analysts' and security administrators' demographics:

	Senior Cyber Security Analyst	Security Administrator
Average age	42	43
Gender ratio	Male, 81.2% Female, 18.8%	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 8.7% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between senior cyber security analyst and security administrator duties and responsibilities

Senior cyber security analyst example responsibilities.

Research and authore white paper advocating a framework for managing risk to the most critical DoD systems.
Implement a manage endpoint encryption solution utilizing TrendMicro MobileArmor to secure university workstations against sensitive data loss.
Lead ArcSight SIEM, MacAfee HBSS, mail gateway and firewall administrator.
Use Splunk and FireEye CMS, among other tools for security response to triage security issues.
Interrogate and monitor agency network traffic using QRadar SIEM.
Import data sources into Splunk and write custom RegEx to parse key fields.

Security administrator example responsibilities.

Manage updates and creation of intranet file.
Create, manage, and maintain corporate LAN.
Manage and monitor various tools and reporting tools relating to security and encryption.
Manage all network objects: computers, users, TCP/IP resources, printers, copier.
Manage staff to implement JCL procedure modifications.
Utilize PowerShell scripts to automate system administrative tasks.

Senior cyber security analyst vs security administrator skills

Common senior cyber security analyst skills

Cyber Security, 18%
Incident Response, 7%
NIST, 6%
Windows, 6%
RMF, 5%
DOD, 4%

Common security administrator skills

Customer Service, 10%
Troubleshoot, 6%
Security Procedures, 6%
Data Entry, 5%
Security Policies, 5%
SCI, 5%

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Senior Cyber Security Analyst vs Security Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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